The Emergence of Narcissism in American Culture: The

THE EMERGENCE OF NARCISSISM 135 THE EMERGENCE OF NARCISSISM IN AMERICAN 4 CULTURE: THE LAMENTATIONS OF CHRISTOPHER LASCH description of nineteenth century bourgeois patriarchy. And IN THE CULTURE OF NARCISSISM some feminists expressed concern that Lasch possessed a masculine viewpoint, avoided the oppression women had Sonya Leigh Scott experienced in the patriarchal family structure, and supported a 5 return to the domination of men over women. Introduction This paper will describe Christopher Lasch’s assertions Lamenting the loss of resolve and the diminishing confidence regarding the loss of family authority, the rise of therapeutic found in contemporary American life in the aftermath of the controls in relation to the family, and the role of feminism and its 1960’s, Christopher Lasch unleashed strong criticism of connection to the decline of the family as well as the debates American culture and the self‐preoccupation, loss of surrounding Lasch’s role as a social critic. Discussion of Lasch’s individualism, and the growing therapeutic climate he observed. viewpoints will also include critique and debates found among Lasch, along with other critics, such as Tom Wolfe and Jim historians that will demonstrate the insight and validity of Hougan, identified this self‐serving tendency that was rapidly Lasch’s notions and that will also expose some of the problems permeating society as “’collective narcissism.’”1 In The Culture of found with clarity and interpretation that created much Narcissism Lasch persuasively pointed to loss of family authority controversy. Despite the differences in interpretation that left The and traditional skills, reliance on others to guide and manage Culture of Narcissism wide open for criticism, Lasch successfully family life, and the changing roles of women as contributors to illustrated what he observed as a declining society and the many and outcomes of the “malaise” that gripped Americans.2 ways that this decline was evident. Lasch’s warning to and The debate over Lasch’s assertions has persisted, especially chastising of the American public is clear and as will be shown, among liberals, over the decades since the publishing of his book his criticisms and concerns were valid and relevant in 1979 and has remained alive well beyond his death in early notwithstanding the variety of interpretations; his main premise 1994. Intellectuals, social critics, and historians have commended of a society deteriorating into destructive narcissism. and condemned his role as a social critic, criticized his notions, and applauded his efforts to explain the problems of a declining Narcissism Defined American culture. Many felt he took a bold stance and praised Lasch explained that Americans had become “pessimistic” his refusal to succumb to the indignant left with their wounded and had lost confidence as a result of the loss of the Vietnam pride and insulted self‐righteousness.3 Others accused him of War, the slowed economic situation, and fear of depletion of nostalgia for an imagined “heroic strength of character” in his natural resources as well as being generally fatigued after the tribulation of the sixties and that this pessimism brought forth a loss of resilience and creativity to confront problems of 6 contemporary life. Lasch defined “narcissism” as the Sonya Leigh Scott, of Champaign, Illinois, is a post‐Baccalaureate student in History. “psychological dimension” of reliance on experts resulting from She wrote this paper for Dr. Jon Coit’s History 4970, The History of American Ideas, in the Fall of 2006. 1Christopher Lasch, The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in An Age of 4 Fred Siegel, “The Agony of Christopher Lasch” in Reviews in American Diminishing Expectations (New York: W.W. Norton, 1979; Norton, 1991), 6. History, 8 no.3 (Sept. 1980): 285. 2Ibid., 10. 5Michele Barrett & Mary McIntosh, “Narcissism and the Family: a Critique 3Robert Erwin, “The Critic of Progress,” Massachusetts Review 45, no. 2 of Lasch,” The New Left Review no.135 (Sept.‐Oct. 1982): 43. (Summer 2004): 291. 6 Lasch, Narcissism, xiii. 136 Historia THE EMERGENCE OF NARCISSISM 137 the loss of “productive” and “reproductive functions” of the addressed it.13 In The Culture of Narcissism Lasch offered detail family.7 By “productive functions,” Lasch was referring to skills regarding clinical narcissism found in contemporary clinical required to meet material needs and “reproductive functions” to literature and studies, and imparted a description of Freud’s having and raising children.8 Confidence in leadership had work and research into human personality and behavior. waned and with the lack of solutions to the nation’s problems, However, for the purposes of this paper, the discussion will the American public had lost the resolve to overcome this center on the disintegration of family life, the therapeutic pessimistic outlook.9 climate, and the changing relationships and roles between and of Narcissism presented as a way to overcome the “repressive men and women, as well as Lasch’s role as an historian cum conditions of the past,” to forget the past, and as a means to find social critic. some level of happiness in a hopeless world, according to Lasch.10 Americans resorted to self‐centered preoccupations with Family Authority and Its Demise an emphasis on “psychic self‐awareness,” recoiled from political Lasch explained that having and caring for children was involvement and concern for social issues, immersed themselves historically a function of the family who provided the training in material consumption, and divorced themselves from the needed to live independently in the world and that this function sense of belonging to the past and the future instead, “living for had slowly eroded in contemporary America. This training the moment.”11 Lasch provided radicalism as a more extreme included basic and essential skills; work, domestic duties, example of narcissism that, for some, was a means to fill manners and morals, and sex education.14 Children’s lives were emptiness, provide a sense of importance, and to feel significant conducted in close proximity to adults where valuable guidance by being associated with others deemed of some magnitude. and modeling of work behaviors and social skills would aid in Despite the outward appearance of social concern and political their maturing into productive citizens. Strong parent‐child interest, Lasch contended that radicals, too, were mired in self‐ relationships helped to provide a firm foundation from which centeredness and the need for validation by their group children would grow and develop.15 leaders.12 Lasch described the longings of Susan Stern, of the The problem of family authority developed, according to radical group the Weathermen as an example of narcissism in Lasch, with the advent of industrialization and its subsequent radical attire. “invasion” of family life.16 The factory system took work out of Early in his book, Lasch elaborated on narcissism from a the sight of children, thus separating them from the adult world clinical perspective and used descriptions found typically in the and the instruction they had previously received from parents. arenas of psychology and sociology to describe this The “deterioration of child care” (or “transfer of functions” as phenomenon. He suggested that in order to fully comprehend Lasch chided using a sociological term that he considered narcissism as a “social and cultural phenomenon” it was “jargon”) occurred as the primary care of children left the home necessary to look at the expanding corpus of writing that and was taken over by assorted institutions.17 7Ibid., 10. 8Ibid. 13Ibid., 35. 9Ibid., xiii. 14Ibid., 154. 10Ibid., xv. 15Ibid., 169. 11Ibid., 12, 5. 16Ibid. 12Ibid., 7. 17Ibid., 169. 138 Historia THE EMERGENCE OF NARCISSISM 139 As the rearing of children left the home, other agencies, such Deprived of the fathers influence and smothered by insecure as schools, assumed roles previously held by parents and other yet increasingly distant mothers, children were unable to family members and with the loss of traditional parental roles, develop psychologically and, Lasch says, what occurred was parents found themselves uneasy about their ability to skillfully “the development of a harsh and punitive superego based raise their own children.18 Out of this came the “helping largely on archaic images of the parents, fused with grandiose professions”; experts who advertised themselves as essential to self‐images.”24 This set up children to enter adulthood in an the well‐being of the family and inferring that families were already ailing society with, as Lasch credited Henry and Yela incapable of taking care of themselves.19 Lowenfeld for describing, “’restlessness, discontent, depressive Convinced by these experts that they had fallen short of the moods, craving for substitute satisfaction.’”25 “ideal of perfect parenthood,” parents grew increasingly Thus, the family of the nineteenth century, with its dependent on the expanding social service industry.20 Lasch saw independence, individualism, and strength of character, slowly this as a catalyst in the deteriorating parent‐child connection disintegrated as the socialization of children left the authority of already being experienced in families from industrialization the home and was scattered amongst experts and agencies that coupled with the narcissistic tendencies that were emerging. assumed control of all aspects of the children’s lives. That which Gone was the confident mother

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